Sounds
by All-Things-TMNT
Summary: Based on the POVs of all four turtles when Leo crashes through the window at April's apartment during the season two finale. Slight spoilers for the episodes within, you have been warned.


It was the single worst moment of any of our lives. The entire invasion and knowing the world was going to end paled in comparison to this.  
This moment, this single moment...  
It was so much more.  
It was so much _worse._  
I didn't know what the others were thinking, but it was clear we were all focused on the same thing, with completely different thoughts.  
And I could only hear one thing as the world around me faded out of existence.  
The fact that all of the world was about to die meant nothing, because our world had ended the second we _heard_ Leo fly through that window.

_This is a story based on a scene from the season two finale's adaptation of Leonardo #1. It's written in multiple POV's.  
If you haven't seen the finale yet and don't want spoilers, don't read this story.  
_

* * *

_****_**Raph's P.O.V.:**

"RAPH!" I heard Mikey scream as his arms flew around me.  
This was what I needed, this single moment.  
And for the first time in hours, I was happy. _I wasn't afraid_.  
Casey and I had been out in the middle of the streets when the Kraang first started showing up in full force. I had been running, fighting for hours trying to make it here.  
Up until this point, I had been utterly terrified; terrified I would never have felt this again. Felt my little brother's arms around me and just feel...safe. Safe with my friends and family.  
And honestly, if the world had to end...as long as I was with my brothers, it wouldn't be so bad.  
"Aw, I missed you too little brother," I told him honestly.  
I could vaguely hear Casey and April talking, but they were miles away. Right here, with my brothers, was the only place I wanted to be.  
All..._two _of them?  
"I hate to break this up," Donnie's voice came out of nowhere. "But Leo is still out there."  
"WHAT?!" I demanded.  
He had to have misspoken, he had to be joking, I had to have heard him wrong.  
There was no way I wanted to picture Leo out there on his own. Not in the middle of everything I had seen. There was no way.  
I shuttered thinking of all the possibilities of what or where Leo could be. Facing down the mutants I saw? Up against Kraang Prime alone again?  
What if he was...  
That relief I had felt mere moments ago was now gone, buried miles under new stress, anger and anxiety.  
We were going back out to find him. I didn't care if I had to face everything I faced ten more times just to find Leo.  
My brother was that important.  
"Long story, bro..." Mikey began. "Basically-"  
The world utterly collapsed into silence.  
Out of everything around me, the only noises I heard were the _**sounds**_ of glass shattering. And that sound echoed throughout my head. It wouldn't stop, it just kept going.  
I turned quickly, ready to bash down whatever Kraang monster had broken into our safe house.  
But all I saw was Leo, flying through the air.  
And all I heard were the _**sounds**_ of the window his shell had shattered splintering, cracking, and breaking.  
There were bits of glass that hit the ground before he did. I heard them all.  
It was all I could hear.  
I didn't hear Leo's body hit the ground or anything. It was literally only that damn window breaking.  
And I felt like I was going to throw up.  
Leo's body stopped a few inches from my feet, and I was at his side instantly, lifting his head.  
I was starring at his face. His broken, bruised face. My eyes, on their own accord, analyzed the rest of his beaten and bruised body. He was completely unresponsive.  
_Vitals_,_ check his vitals. Is he still breathing?_  
I lowered my head do his chest. I tried to imagine the sound of a heartbeat...but all I could hear was that damn glass.  
I gave up on trying to listen, and tried to find his pulse with my finger.  
_Nope. Nothing there. Not here._  
I grew more and more frantic as I went to every pulse point Donnie had taught me.  
Until finally, one weak rhythm of a pulse was beating beneath my finger tips. It was erratic, unsteady and barely noticeable...but it was better than nothing.  
My brother was barely alive.  
"He's still breathing," I announced to the room, relieved to deliver the good news.  
"Dude...his shell is cracked..." Mikey whimpered.  
The universe just wouldn't let me win tonight. It wouldn't let me be relieved for periods of longer than ten seconds.  
And it was about to be ruled by the Kraang.  
I just...I sat there. I sat there and I starred at Leo's face. I sat there and looked at his eye lids, silently begging them to open.  
_Leo wake up, Leo wake up, Leo wake up_...  
The Kraang had utterly destroyed him. He was barely alive in my arms.  
Was this Kraang Prime's vendetta against him for stopping their first invasion a year prior? There was no way Kraang Prime, no matter how insane she...it? She would have halted this entire force just to get revenge on Leo.  
But who else would have done this? Who else could have wanted Leo dea-  
_No...  
_"Come out, turtles!" Tiger Claw's voice rang out from outside. "We know you're in there."  
The Foot. The Shredder.  
They were behind this. Shredder literally wanted Leo dead because of his involvement with the whole Karai situation. That had to be it.  
I wouldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let Shredder take my brother away. Especially not after everything that had happened. Leo was not to blame for any of it, it was all the Shredder's fault.  
I was still looking down at Leo's face when I realized he wasn't going to wake up. Not then and there. We had to get out of April's apartment. Leo was fading fast.  
Instantly two of Shredder's Footbots flew in through the window Leo had broken. Mikey Sprang to his feet and I hoisted Leo up Mikey slung him around onto my shell piggyback style while Casey took them out.  
I looked over to the door, our only exit to see that Donnie had already taken out a Footbot there too.  
And I was running with Leo barely breathing riding on my back.  
"Don't worry, Leo," I whispered up to him. "I won't let anyone else hurt you, or our family. Not anymore."  
In the back of my head, that window shattering was still echoing.

* * *

**Donnie's P.O.V.:  
**  
I saw April and Casey embrace in that way that April only embraced me once or twice in our entire friendship. I knew it wasn't exactly what I should have been focused on in that moment, but I couldn't help it.  
I had just tried to tell the girl I loved her, and she stopped me. It was devastating to me. And to turn around moments later and see her hug Jones like that, the way I wanted her to hug me...  
It wasn't easy. No amount of my sarcasm could make this easier.  
_Logic_, I told myself. _Be reasonable.  
_I turned to focus on the fact that Raph had returned. That he (and Casey) had actually returned unharmed to us. It was a miracle, seeing as they had been out and exposed when the invasion had begun.  
So maybe that meant that Leo...  
_Leo..._  
Oh my God.  
How had I forgotten that Leo was gone? That he lead the Kraang droids away from April, Mikey and I. How had I forgotten that he was out there in this?  
_What if he..._  
"I hate to break this up, but Leo is still out there..." I pointed out, knowing I was completely at fault.  
"WHAT?!" Raph screamed, rage returning to his eyes.  
It was like his eyes said that he knew it was my fault.  
I had to be positive, I had to not worry. Out of all of us, Leo could definitely take care of himself. He was the one none of us ever really had to worry about.  
...But he was also the one who would lay down his life for us without any hesitation if it came down to it.  
No, he was fine. He had to be fine. Things always worked out for us! He'd show up soon, Mikey had been texting him all day. Or we'd find him, and Master Splinter, and we'd all get out of the city together. Just like he'd said. We'd be okay.  
"Long story, bro," Mikey told Raph. "Basically-"  
Suddenly everyone turned to the left.  
My eyes followed to see glass shards flying everywhere, and Leo falling to the floor.  
I stepped in front of April to block any glass from hitting her and Leo's shell bounced off and scraped against the wooden floor of her living room.  
It was one of the single horrifying _**sounds**_ I had ever heard in my life, if not the worst.  
He came to a stop not too far from where we were standing, but that scraping sound didn't stop in my head. It was all I could hear.  
Almost everyone in the room flew to his side. Mikey and Raph picked him up and were looking all over his body.  
His totally bruised up body.  
I wanted nothing more than to be at Leo's side, and diagnose his horrible condition so I could start fixing him. But the sight of him, and the sound of his shell scraping against the floor kept me locked in place.  
I had done this to him. I was the reason he was where he was.  
I was the reason he was dead...  
"He's still breathing!" Raph announced, looking down at Leo in a way I've never seen Raph give before.  
I'd never seen Raph so concerned. I'd never seen Raph so worried that his brother might not make it.  
And at the same time, I've never seen Raph angrier.  
I could tell he wanted to destroy whoever did this to Leo, and I didn't know how to tell him it was me.  
I didn't know how to explain how Leo left us to protect us after the argument we'd had earlier.  
I deserved whatever Raph wanted to do.  
But before I could speak, Footbots were coming in. And we were all in fast motion.  
I would tell Raph what happened later. If I wanted Leo to survive, however small the chance would be, I knew we needed to get out of there and get him somewhere safe.  
I took out the sole Footbot guarding the door and led everyone down the stairs and out of the apartment. Above us I could hear Casey and Mikey moving something big across the floor.  
It was the same scraping sound Leo's shell had made...

* * *

__**Mikey's P.O.V.: **

I had been trying to keep the entire group positive, but I knew I was failing miserably. Especially when every time I did something funny, none of them would laugh.  
But I was determined. I never gave up. Leo taught me that.  
And right now, as I sent off like the billionth text to him asking him where he was, I really missed Leo.  
That was when Raph walked through the door.  
I didn't even have to think about it. I threw myself at him and hugged him tight. I was so excited to see him.  
"Raph!" I sang out.  
"Aw, I missed you too little brother," he told me, hugging me for a few seconds before pushing me back.  
We were almost done! We just needed Leo to get there, and then we could go back for Splinter and Ice Cream Kitty in the lair, and leave New York City.  
We'd all be together, and Leo and Splinter would figure something out. If anyone could fix this, it was them.  
"I hate to break this up, but Leo's still out there!" Donnie said, being a total downer.  
I could almost feel the air around Raph heat up he was so mad.  
"WHAT?!"  
Oh yeah, he was gone when it all happened. He didn't know about April's friend or the lair or any of it. I needed to fill him in.  
"Long story, bro..." I began. "Basically-"  
I was cut off when Raph looked away from me.  
Rude much? Donnie was looking away too...no one was paying attention to me! I looked over to see what was so much more interesting than-  
Alright! Leo got back! He was...  
He was falling through the window?  
What in the...  
Leo made a small groan as he crashed into the small coffee table in the middle of the room.  
And that small groan was the loudest noise in the world. In fact, it was the only noise in the world. All the other _**sounds**_ had faded away.  
It was the most pain-filled noise I had ever heard. That was when I actually saw Leo, saw the state he was in. And it was not pretty.  
He was covered in cuts and bruises and some parts of him just...looked bent the wrong way.  
Leo looked like one of my action figures after I broke them from when I was little.  
And that's what my older brother was: he was broken.  
I didn't know what to do. Raph had run over to him so I followed his lead. Raph gently lifted Leo's head and began poking him in different places, pausing before moving onto the next and looking more and more freaked out. He settled on one spot and let out a shaky breath.  
"He's still breathing," he said.  
That was when I noticed it. A huge dark line across Leo's back. It went farther down than I could see, and I knew what it was.  
I wasn't as smart as Donnie, but I knew a cracked shell was one of the worst things that could happen to any of us, if not the worst.  
"Dude, his shell is cracked..." I could barely speak, so terrified for Leo.  
He looked like he was dead. If Raph hadn't said anything I would have thought he was.  
"COME OUT, TURTLES!" Tiger Claw's stupid voice called from outside the window. "We know you're in there!"  
I was terrified until I heard that voice. My fear instantly changed to anger. I had never been so mad my entire life.  
When Leo left us, he was being chased by the Kraang, but it was the stupid Foot who did this. I looked back down at Leo and saw some scratches only Rahzar could have made...  
Some Footbots jumped in through the window and Casey instantly tackled them. Two more followed. I jumped up, ready to fight, and Raph began lifting Leo up. I helped shift Leo around to where Raph was carrying him on his back like we used to do when we were kids, and watched him carry Leo out the door behind D, April and Mr. O'Neil.  
Once they were out, I unleashed my Kusarigama blade and cut down the other two Footbots with Leo's groan playing in my head the whole time. It only made me more mad because those stupid robots couldn't feel what they had done to my big brother...  
Casey looked up at me.  
"We'll get him out of here, Mikey," he promised me.  
I nodded, and looked out the window to see what we were up against. That was when I saw Rahzar directly below the window.  
I thought about jumping on him...but the sofa next to me was a lot heavier.  
"Casey, dude, help me!" I snapped, jumping to the side to pick up the couch. He didn't ask any questions, just nodded and began to lift the other side for me.  
We struggled, but got the couch halfway out of the window frame when I peaked out and checked one last time, hoping my aim was as good as Leo's usually was.  
It was perfect, and I nodded back at Casey.  
"THIS IS FOR MY BROTHER!" I screamed as loud as I could when I gave the sofa the final push out the window.  
I heard it crash onto the ground, followed by Rahzar whine. I glared down out of the window, hoping it hurt Rahzar bad...  
Casey put his hand on my shoulder for a second.  
"Let's get out of here," he said.  
And we jumped out of the window, landing right next to where Rahzar was pinned under the sofa.  
We were running. We didn't look back. Mr. O'Neil just led us down the street.  
My eyes were glued on Leo's shell the entire time.  
And the groan he made wouldn't quit replaying like the tPod on repeat.

* * *

__**Leo's P.O.V.: **

I didn't know where I was or what was going on or even if I was alive.  
All I knew was that there was pain. Pain of every variety.  
_Burning, stinging, searing... _  
I was feeling it all, it all completely consumed me.  
I was actually still partially conscious. It was the only way I knew I was still alive. I could hear the _**sounds**_ of the world around me in vague blurs, and I was slightly aware I was being carried...by something furry? Someone? Tiger Claw? Rahzar?  
I couldn't tell, there was too much pain preventing me from completing a thought.  
God did I just want to be dead...everything hurt so badly. Bones were definitely broken. It was hard to breathe. And being carried roughly the way I knew I was didn't help at all.  
I tried opening my eyes a few times, but it was so disorienting. I had to keep them closed. I couldn't cry if I kept them closed, because God knows I wanted to.  
"Another three blocks up in the north," what sounded like Rahzar's voice declared. "That's where the girl lives, where all the turtles are."  
_No_, I tried to say. _Stay away from them_.  
"Excellent," Tiger Claw said. "Imagine how please Master Shredder will be when we bring him four turtle shells...Let us finish this."  
"In a minute," Fishface complained. "My jaw is still soar from where that wretched turtle hit me earlier."  
_Good_, I wanted to say.  
My everything was still hurting from all the hits they got on me...  
"Stop complaining," Rahzar scolded him.  
"I don't think you understand what I'm saying," Fishface spoke again.  
It was silent for a few seconds. Was I out for good?  
"The turtles," Fishface spoke again. "Always lead by this one, have caused us so many problems these past few months, and now here is our chance for revenge. For every hit this one inflicted, we can have two hits back right now. We can make him suffer."  
And I found myself completely okay with the possibility of more pain. Because if they were distracted completely finishing me off, maybe my brothers would have more time to escape.  
I knew I was done for anyway. My family didn't need to suffer.  
"Revenge is not the honorable thing one seeks," Tiger Claw corrected him.  
"I am a thief," Fishface reminded them. "I have no honor."  
That was when I felt another blow to my chest. A metal, robotic foot slammed into me, and I crashed onto the ground.  
I gasped and my eyes flew open for a few seconds, more pain than before radiating throughout my body.  
I was hyperventilating. I was completely and utterly overtaken by pain. More than I ever thought possible.  
"That felt good," Fishface whispered next to me and I heaved.  
My body was convulsing in the waves of pain that crashed into me. I had forgotten what the absence of pain felt like. I doubted I would ever feel it again before I died.  
My only consolation was that Rahzar and Fishface seemed completely uninterested in any reve-  
More pain. I felt something slash at my arms. It was either Tiger Claw or Rahzar's claws. Whichever it was, it added on to the mountain of pain.  
Fire poured through my veins. Bile rose in the back of my throat. I couldn't take it. It was all too much.  
I felt myself being lifted into the air. I didn't know if they were done or what was going on...I just prayed it would end.  
And I felt myself slam down into the ground below me. The cracking noise I hear was the sickening. I didn't know if it was a bone I had broken, but I knew I had never felt a pain like this. I had never known it was possible to hurt in the ways that I was hurting.  
All the pain I had felt before that moment was utterly insignificant to the true agony I was in right now.  
I screamed louder than I ever had in my life. I broke the sound barrier with my scream.  
Did I want them to have the satisfaction of knowing how much I was suffering? Of course not.  
Could I hold it back? Of course not.  
I couldn't hear them anymore. I couldn't tell if they were carrying me or if they had left me and moved on or whatever happened.  
All I knew was pain. All I would feel until I left this world was pain.  
I would never know anything else but pain ever again.  
My brothers' faces flashed in my mind as I drowned inside the fires consuming my body. And I wanted to hear them speak, I wanted to listen to their voices and I wanted to tell them so many things, but I knew I'd never be with them again.  
I couldn't keep track of time. The pain made everything drag out so much longer.  
All I knew was I hanging onto the living world by a string, and it was starting to unravel.  
That was when I felt something shatter, like glass, under my weight.  
And I heard multiple gasps I recognized as my family. My brothers.  
Those were the last _**sounds**_ I heard before I hit the ground and blacked out.


End file.
